getting results guide - rockwell...

Getting Results Guide

Doc ID TSTENT-GR001A-EN-P

TSTENT-GR001A-EN-P_Ttlpg.qxd 9/8/04 11:36 AM Page 1

ContactingRockwell Software

Technical Support Telephone1-440-646-5800Technical Support Fax1-440-646-5801World Wide Webwww.software.rockwell.com

Copyright Notice Rockwell Software Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

This manual and any accompanying Rockwell Software products are copyrighted by Rockwell Software Inc. Any reproduction and/or distribution without prior written consent from Rockwell Software Inc. is strictly prohibited. Please refer to the license agreement for details.

Trademark Notice The Rockwell Software logo, RSTestSTand Enterprise, RSTestStand, PLC, PLC-2, PLC-3, PLC-5, PLC-5/250, PLC-5/20E, PLC-5/40E, PLC-5/80E, SLC, SLC 5/01, SLC 5/02, SLC 5/03, SLC 5/04, SLC 5/05, and SLC 500 are registered trademarks of Rockwell Automation.

Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, Visual Basic, and Visual SourceSafe are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

ControlNet is a registered trademark of ControlNet International.

DeviceNet is a registered trademark of the Open DeviceNet Vendors Association.

Ethernet is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel, and Xerox Corporation.

SolidWorks 3D Modeling Software is a trademark of SolidWorks.

Pentium is a registered trademark of the Intel Corporation.

Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

AIX, PowerPC, Power Series, RISC System/6000 are trademarks and IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited.

AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc.

All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

Warranty This Rockwell Software product is warranted in accord with the product license. The products performance will be affected by system configuration, the application being performed, operator control, and other related factors.

This products implementation may vary among users.

This manual is as up-to-date as possible at the time of printing; however, the accompanying software may have changed since that time. Rockwell Software reserves the right to change any information contained in this manual or the software at anytime without prior notice.

The instructions in this manual do not claim to cover all the details or variations in the equipment, procedure, or process described, nor to provide directions for meeting every possible contingency during installation, operation, or maintenance.

RSTestStand.book Page ii Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

i

New features of RSTestStand Enterprise version 3.10

Control Planner/Simulator (CPS) has been renamed RSTestStand Enterprise. Extending the proven value of RSTestStand as a control modeling and simulation software, RSTestStand Enterprise offers these additional solutions to your process and discrete applications:

System-level simulation that provides the ability to import individual RSTestStand projects and to design a macro model of the smaller cells.

Process and/or application modeling tools to provide the ability to develop the model of the actual physical process. These tools increase the fidelity and scope of the control systems model.

Debugging and optimization tools to aid in the validation process.

Upstream connectivity to 3D modeling systems, such as SolidWorks.

RSTestStand Enterprise has these new features:

The Data Scope allows you to graph Boolean and analog data values in a variety of formats. The functionality of the Data Scope is similar to a digital storage oscilloscope.

RSTestStand Enterprise can now coordinate and control time among multiple RSEmulate 5000 controllers in a single virtual backplane. See Controlling execution speeds of an RSEmulate 5000 processor on page 110.

Conveyors, multiplexers, and buffers have been added to the Part Flow diagram. See Part Flow objects on page 103.

RSTestStand.book Page i Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

RSTESTSTAND ENTERPRISE GETTING RESULTS GUIDE

ii

Features introduced in version 2.10:

Arrays are now supported as data types for variables.

Integration into RSAutomation Desktop.

A new graphics subsystem that makes developing 3D animations simpler and faster. See Creating 3D models on page 43.

Graphic libraries in which you can save and reuse your animation elements. See Graphics Library on page 92.

Expanded search and replace so that you can find instances throughout the system. You can also search and replace variables from within a flowchart or its variables list. See Searching your Project Model on page 16.

Library elements can now be parameterized to create multiple copies when they are dragged into a project. You can now use the Multiple instantiation feature to greatly increase the flexibility of your libraries by allowing you to have a single parent and a user requested number of children (including zero). By developing library elements that take advantage of this feature, you can selectively add and remove features when you build your project. See Parameterizing your library resource definitions on page 96.

Addition of a code module editor with a Visual Basic Script Editor look and feel.

Import and export to an ASCII delimited file. See Importing and exporting your project variables on page 17.

New functions in the System Procedures for the Flowchart editor:

DoWhile and DoUntil functions that allow you to reset a flowchart on a change of condition.

GetPercentComplete returns the current value of the capability referenced.

New WaitUntil function blocks the execution of a flowchart until the specified condition goes true.

Selection, on a resource by resource basis, of whether a duplex variables initial value is written to the OPC link during the power-up scan.

RSTestStand.book Page ii Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

iii

1 Welcome to RSTestStand Enterprise 1Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2How does this document fit with other Rockwell Software product documentation?. . 2Document conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Installing RSTestStand Enterprise 3System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Hardware requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Installing RSTestStand Enterprise software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Starting the RSTestStand Enterprise software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Creating the Project Model 7Developing your project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Analyze your application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Test the model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Develop your system logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Run the logic, any electronic HMI, and your RSTestStand Enterprise application

concurrently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8About the Project Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Creating a new Project Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Populating your Project Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Modifying your Project Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Searching your Project Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Importing and exporting your project variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Importing project variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Exporting data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Field descriptions for csv file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4 Resources 21Adding user-defined resources to the Project Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Setting attributes, variables, and capabilities for resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Setting resource attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Setting resource variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Initial Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Connecting an array variable to an OPC array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Setting resource capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Contents

RSTestStand.book Page iii Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM


iv

5 Operator Consoles 35Adding an Operator Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Configuring Operator Consoles device resource properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Merging Operator Consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Operator Console devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Emergency stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Indicator lamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39LED display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Message display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Meter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Push button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Selector switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Slider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Strip chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Text box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Thumb wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Toggle switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422-state feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

6 Creating 3D models 43Building a 3D animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Adding an object to the scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Adding paths and frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Working with multiple assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Connecting resource variables to animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Importing animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Working with scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Helpful hints for working with components and assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7 Using the Data Scope feature 57Setting up a data source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Setting up a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Setting up a Trace View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Using the Trace View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Setting up a Rule View and Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Setting up individual rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Using the Rule View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Viewing a Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Recording normal values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Save Data to File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

RSTestStand.book Page iv Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

CONTENTS

v

8 Simulation 73Starting a simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Simulation modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Interacting with a simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Placing a Watch Window on a resource, component, or assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 75Forcing resource variable values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Using the Output Message Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Hints for setting up and running simulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Exporting and importing runtime simulation data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Exporting runtime simulation data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Importing runtime simulation data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Using the Run-Only option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9 Flowchart Editor 81Opening the Flowchart Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Flowchart Editor elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Start Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Decision Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Process Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83End Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Comment Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Local VBScript Module Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Connection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Visual Basic Script operator syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Printing a flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

10 Connection Diagrams 87Creating a Connection Diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Adding resources to a Connection Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87OPC tag connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Printing a Connection Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Connection Diagram palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Options tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Connecting variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Connection Diagram context menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

RSTestStand.book Page v Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM


vi

11 Creating and using libraries 91Standard Resource library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Op Console Devices library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Graphics Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Creating your own library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Adding a resource definition to a Resource Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Parameterizing your library resource definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Removing a resource definition from a library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Using a library resource definition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Attaching or detaching a library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Attaching a Resource Library to a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Detaching a Resource Library from a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Saving a library file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

12 Part flow models 99About the part flow model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Creating a part flow model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Laying out a part flow model diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Adding behavior to the diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Controlling the action using capabilities and set points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Running the Part Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Part Flow objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Generators, parts, and part names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Part Movers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Multiplexer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Conveyor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Part Disposer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Part sensor switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

13 Controllers 109Using a controller in your project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Controlling execution speeds of an RSEmulate 5000 processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Controlling the execution speed of multiple RSEmulate 5000 processors . . . . . . . . 112Controller Property dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Attribute tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

RSTestStand.book Page vi Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

CONTENTS

vii

Variables tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Initial Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Add Variables using OPC Browser button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

14 Local VBScript Modules 119Creating a Local VBScript Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Subroutines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

15 Importing and exporting projects 121Importing and merging XML files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Exporting files using XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Importing and merging RSTestStand projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

16 Developing and using TestScripts 123Creating a new TestScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Editing TestScripts using Visual Basic Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Setting up and using a manual TestScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Running TestScripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125The Log File for TestScripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Configuration of standard Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Manual Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Random Fault Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Snapshot Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Interlock Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

17 Communications using OPC 131Connecting to another server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Topic names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Groups and items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Poll rates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Variable updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Initial or powerup scan using OPC connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Search and replace OPC tag addresses and variable names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

RSTestStand.book Page vii Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM


viii

18 Troubleshooting 135Debugging flowchart logic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Communication problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

No error codes, but variables are not updating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137No topic configured in RSLinx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Controller problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Incorrect update rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Polled Messages is not selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Time to expand the Tag Browser is too long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Interacting with the PLC logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Problems with 3D graphics and OpenGL compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

19 Getting the information you need 141Online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Technical support services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

When you call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

A Activation 143Protecting your activation files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Activating RSTestStand Enterprise software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Running the activation utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Finding more information about activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Some common questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

My activation files were damaged. What should I do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145I accidentally deleted the software directory on my hard drive. Do I need to call

Rockwell Software for replacement activation files? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Why cant I move activation to a new floppy disk on a Windows NT system? 146

B Output Window messages and error codes 147

C System procedures for the Flowchart Editor 153

D Built-in procedures for the TestScript Editor 159TestScript Editor and Flowchart Editor procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159TestScript Editor procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Class forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Class controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Class form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Class control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

E Glossary 165

RSTestStand.book Page viii Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM

1

1 1 Welcome to RSTestStand

Enterprise

Welcome to RSTestStand EnterpriseRSTestStand Enterprise is a design tool that lets you describe the process to be controlled, test pieces of it, and run an acceptance test using automated test procedures. It is part of the Design Automation product family from Rockwell Software Inc.

RSTestStand, also part of the Design Automation suite, supports a unit, or module, testing philosophy. As such, it provides the controls engineer with an interactive development environment for his or her logic. RSTestStand Enterprise, on the other hand, provides you with a much broader set of capabilities that both allows incrementally larger and more complex projects to be tested and brings automation to the testing process. RSTestStand Enterprise lets you import and concatenate multiple RSTestStand files. The large amount of reuse from unit testing allows you to focus on what is important: the verification of your system design.

RSTestStand Enterprise includes these features:Data Scope, which lets you analyze existing applications, synthesize important operational parameters, and use them in your model.

Import and merge of RSTestStand files to reuse unit, or module, testing.

TestScripts to automate scripting your test procedures and recording the results.

Connection Diagrams to better visualize more complex models.

Controller resources to allow you to build models that can be incrementally substituted with real components.

RSTestStand.book Page 1 Friday, September 10, 2004 3:22 PM


2

XML import and export to create Project Models from upstream design systems.

3D graphics to allow connection to visually sophisticated representations.

Part Flow Model to let you build line simulations.

Integration into RSAutomation Desktop.

AudienceWe assume that you are familiar with:

IBM-compliant personal computers

Microsoft Windows operating systems

OLE for Process Control (OPC) communications

Allen-Bradley programmable logic controllers (PLC)

Rockwell Softwares PLC programming tools

How does this document fit with other Rockwell Software product documentation?

This guide is intended to be the entry point into our documentation set, which includes the RSTestStand Enterprise Getting Results Guide and online help.

The online help includes all overview, procedure, screen, and reference information for the software. It contains overview topics, tutorial topics, step-by-step procedures, and screen element descriptions (for example, text boxes, drop-down lists, and option buttons). Help is context-sensitive and provides you with immediate access to application and screen element descriptions.

Document conventionsThe conventions used throughout this document comply with those recommended by Microsoft. If you are not familiar with the Microsoft Windows user interface, we recommend that you read the documentation supplied with the operating system you are using before attempting to use this software.


3

2

2 Installing RSTestStand Enterprise

Installing RSTestStand EnterpriseThis chapter describes:

The minimum system requirements

How to install the software

System requirementsTo effectively use the software, your personal computer must meet the following hardware and software requirements.

Hardware requirementsA Pentium III compatible or better personal computer rated at least 800 MHz (1 GHz preferred)

256 MB of RAM minimum (512 MB of RAM preferred)

20 MB of available hard drive space

CD-ROM drive

3.5-inch 1.44 MB diskette drive

Video graphics adapter (VGA) with OpenGL support (recommended for 3D animations)

Monitor that supports 1024x768 resolution. Use of lower resolutions might impact the size of dialog boxes so that they will not fit on the screen

Software requirementsMicrosoft Windows 2000 operating system

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher)

Drivers to support the OpenGL card

RSLinx 2.40 or higher (if you will be using the high speed data source in the RSTestStand Enterprise Data Scope, you must use RSLinx 2.42.00)



4

Installing RSTestStand Enterprise softwareBe sure to read the RSTestStand Enterprise_RelNotes.html file included on the CD-ROM. It may contain specific information relating to the installation of the latest release of this software.

To install the software:

1. Insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Select Install RSTestStand Enterprise.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

a. On the Welcome dialog box: Read the information, and then click Next.

b. On the Software License Agreement dialog box: Read the entire Software License Agreement. Click to accept and continue installation, or click to decline and exit installation.

c. On the Customer Information dialog box: Type your name, the name of your company, and the serial number of your RSTestStand Enterprise software. Click Next.

d. On the Choose Setup Type dialog box: Choose Standard or Custom. Click Next.

If autorun is: Then:

enabled The Installer program starts automatically. Go to step 2.disabled a. Click Start.

b. Click Run. The Run dialog box is displayed.c. In the Open field, type x:\autorun.exe.d. Click OK. The Installer dialog box is displayed. Go to step 2.

If the Program Maintenance dialog box is displayed, a previous version of RSTestStand Enterprise is installed. To uninstall:

1. Open RSTestStand Enterprise.

2. Close all windows and toolbars.

3. Close RSTestStand Enterprise.

4. Return to Control Panel. Select Remove and click Next to uninstall the previous version.

The serial number is on the product box label or on the Master Diskette.



5


e. On the Ready to Install dialog box: Click Install. The program features you selected will be installed on your system.

f. On the Install Activation dialog box: Leave Yes, install Activation now selected and insert the Master disk into the drive. Click Finish.

g. On the EvMove Select Drives dialog box: Click OK to install the activation files to the default settings or use the list to install the activation files to another drive.

h. On the EvMove dialog box: Click Move to install your activation files. Follow the instructions on the screen to activate the software.

i. On the EvMove Move Summary dialog box: Click OK to move the activation files.

j. On the Setup Installation Complete dialog box: Installation is complete. Click Finish.

4. If Show Release Notes was selected, the Release Notes are launched.

5. When you are finished installing the software, remove the CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive and the Master disk from the disk drive. Store them in a safe place.

6. Click Exit to exit from the Installation Menu.

Starting the RSTestStand Enterprise softwareTo start the software:

1. Open the Windows Start Menu.

2. Select Program Files > Rockwell Software > RSTestStand Enterprise > RSTestStand Enterprise. The software starts.

3. You can open a sample application by selecting File > Open. Select the Sample Applications directory. Open one of the sample files.

When the software starts, the Library and the Project Model windows are displayed in the main window, along with the main toolbar and the status bar. These items can be detached, moved, or closed at any time during your session. You can reopen editor windows by choosing the View menu and selecting the window that you want to display.

If you do not install your activation, you will get a message warning you that you will not be able to save. For more information on activation, see Activation on page 143.



6


7

3

3 Creating the Project Model

Creating the Project ModelThe Project Model is a model of the machinery or process being described through RSTestStand Enterprise. In the Project Model, the machinery and processes are represented through resources.

The Project Model is organized in a project tree that consists of folders that contain resources, operator consoles, and data scope sources and views. It also contains connection diagrams, part flow models, and Testscripts. These features are described in separate chapters later in this manual.

This chapter describes some background material about developing your project, followed by detail about the Project Model, including how to populate it with folders, resources, and operator consoles, and how to import information into and out of the Project Model.

Developing your projectThis RSTestStand Enterprise Getting Results Guide leads you through developing your application. Before you begin, though, you might want to consider how to approach your problem. Some suggestions for developing your project are presented in the following.

Analyze your applicationYou need to perform this step to develop the control system. In fact, in many ways, building a dynamic model of the process to be controlled is simpler and faster than developing extensive documentation. You can use the model to unambiguously define the process and get early customer agreement. Use the visualization tools to refine the presentation of the model so that the design is obvious. You should be able to draw on the set of elements supplied in the libraries or in the various applications examples.

Typically, you will find that your model can be decomposed into chunks of functionality. Resources can then be applied to implement those chunks. We recommend that you keep the amount of interaction among chunks to a minimum. You should connect or wire variables between chunks, rather than try to reference a variable directly from another chunk in a flowchart.

Pay particular attention to implementing the boundary conditions for your application. If a tank can only hold 1000 gallons, you want to make sure your model has limits that test for 1000 gallons. You can use a Halt instruction to stop the simulation at that point and check what happened in the logic to cause the condition to occur.



8

Test the modelThe model will have a series of connection points to the PLC inputs and outputs to and from the model. Build a temporary Operator Console that can provide input into the model. For example, if you expect a Boolean value from the PLC to cause some motion in the model so that the PLC gets the appropriate feedback, you can use an Op Console button to manually stimulate the model. You can observe the model response using Watch Windows.

You should try and test each chunk of functionality separately. Typically, the PLC logic implements the overall sequencing of the application.

If you want to fully develop the application offline, you should consider using the Controllers feature. It allows incremental development and replacement of modular units of your process as broken down by areas of control.

You may also want to implement a unit testing philosophy. If so, you will find that a cost-effective solution is to use RSTestStand as your unit test environment and then use RSTestStand Enterprise to fully test the integrated system.

Develop your system logicReturn to your model and disconnect any manual debug devices that you used to test the model. Using the OPC tag browser, wire the model to your PLC logic or other devices. You can also import large segments of the OPC tag database using the Add Variables from the OPC link functionality.

Run the logic, any electronic HMI, and your RSTestStand Enterprise application concurrentlyRun through whatever checkout procedures you do normally to test for various error conditions and system responses. While you cannot solve wiring or other hardware problems, you can catch many programming errors, especially ones that involve interaction between the PLC and other systems such as the HMI. Test for system error response by forcing values using the Watch Windows.



9


About the Project ModelOnce components have been added to a Project Model, the Project Model window provides you with a hierarchic representation of all the elements in your system (except for Project Properties). The Project Model window displays these types of elements organized in a tree structure:

Folders

Resources

Operator Consoles

Data Scope folder

Connection Diagrams

TestScripts

Controllers

Folders graphically organize your project and act as a placeholders for part flows in the project tree (if the part flow folder contains object, the folder has a P on it). Folders can only be added below other folders (they cannot be added below resources).

Resources define the characteristics of the equipment or process. The Standard Resource Library contains resources you can use to start your project. You can also create your own resources (see Adding user-defined resources to the Project Model on page 22). Resources in the Project Model can be dragged anywhere in the tree. Children of the resource move with the parent. If you delete a parent resource, all children will be deleted. Note that you cannot move folders.

Operator Consoles model physical panels and allow you to interact with your Project Model during simulation. The devices you can place on the Operator Console have properties such as variables and capabilities and can have flowcharts associated with them to set their behavior.

The Data Scope folder contains the data sources and views that you set up for the Data Scope. See Using the Data Scope feature on page 57 for more information.

You can print a listing of the Project Model and its resources, the resource variables, capabilities, connections, and what their connections are by selecting File > Print XREF and using the standard print dialog box.

Your Project Model initially contains a root folder called Equipment. Although you cannot delete the Equipment folder, you can rename it by right-clicking it and selecting Rename.



10

Connection Diagrams provide another method of viewing Project Model data. Instead of a hierarchic view, they allow you to view the behavioral relationship among the various resources. Once you have created a connection diagram, you can drag resources into it and add or delete connections. The connection diagram is live when RSTestStand Enterprise is running its simulation, so it is a good way to demonstrate the data flow in the system. See Connection Diagrams on page 87 for more information.

The Part Flow Model provides realistic feedback to the control system for part-in-place detection and is also useful for conceptualizing the initial control system design, where different types of resources work together to accomplish some task. See Part flow models on page 99 for information.

TestScripts are a method of checking out your control system in an organized and repeatable way. See Developing and using TestScripts on page 123 for information.

The New Inactive Resources features allows you to add placeholders in the project tree. Inactive Resources only contain Attribute properties, and therefore cannot have any behavior (logic or variables). They are typically used when you import an XML file and you want to preserve the structure of the file without impacting performance or memory. Inactive resources are marked with the structural icon ( ).

Creating a new Project ModelTo create a new project:1. Start RSTestStand Enterprise.2. Select File > New.

The Create New Workspace dialog box is displayed.

3. Type a name for your project file.

View > Hide Inactive Resources allows you to collapse the Project Model tree by hiding inactive resources. However, if a project tree branch has active resources at the end of the branch, all resources will be displayed along that branch.



11


4. Click Save.The Project Properties dialog box is displayed.

Project Properties dialog box

5. Complete the boxes in this dialog box. Note that the version number is simply a text box. RSTestStand Enterprise does not update this field automatically.

The defaults for the other tabs are acceptable for most applications. If you need to change them, see the online help for detail.

6. Click OK when changes are complete. The Project Model, Resource Libraries, and the Scenes panes open.

To change your project properties later, select View > Project Properties from the menu.



12

Populating your Project ModelYou build your Project Model by adding folders, resources, and operator consoles, and connecting these components.

This section takes you through the basic steps of creating your Project Model. For more detail, see the chapters on the specific components and the online help. The online help also provides a Tutorial using a detailed example.

To populate your Project Model:

1. Right-click and select New Folder.

2. Type in a name for the folder.

3. Add resources to the folder by dragging resources from the Standard Resource Library into a folder.

Drag resources from the library to a folder in the Project Model

Operator Console devices cannot be used in standard resource folders. Resources from the Standard Resource Library cannot be used in Operator Consoles.



13


4. The User Input dialog box might be displayed. Rename the resource and check the values of the variables in this dialog box.

Check values of the variables in this dialog box

5. Click Done.

6. Add an Operator Console by selecting the folder or resource under which the Operator Console will be placed, right-clicking, and selecting New Operator Console.

Add a new Operator Console

New Operator Console



14

7. Rename the Operator Console as needed. Right-click and select Rename.

8. Double-click the operator console to open the Operator Console Editor.

9. Add devices to the operator console by dragging them from the Op Console Devices folder of the Resource Library onto the Operator Console editor. As devices are added in the editor, they are also added in the Project Model under the Op Console.

Adding a device to an Operator Console

10. To wire an Operator Console device to an appropriate variable, double-click a device. The Properties dialog box is displayed.

A dialog box is displayed that says you are not using hardware acceleration. If you have OpenGL hardware acceleration, use the View Menu > 3D Rendering Properties menu to turn on hardware acceleration.

You can select the option to stop displaying the dialog box if you are using software emulation for OpenGL.

Operator Console Editor

Resource library showing Op Console devices



15


11. Select the Variables tab. Operator Console devices have pre-defined variables as appropriate for the device.

Resource Properties dialog box for Operator Console device

12. Double-click the Connections cell of the variable you want to wire.

13. The Browse Resources dialog box is displayed. Select the variable to be connected to the Operator Console variable.

14. Click OK.

15. Click OK on the Property dialog box.

You have now wired one internal variable to the state of another.

Modifying your Project ModelRight-click a Project Model resource to modify or to save your Project Model resources using these options:

Remove and Rename: Remove or rename the selected folder or resource.

Properties: Displays the Properties dialog box for the selected folder, resource, or Operator Console.

Communications Properties: Displays the OPC Server Information dialog box. If you want to make communications settings that are specific to this resource, click Communications button on the Attributes tab of the Resource Properties screen. The Resource Properties dialog box is shown on Page 23.

Disable Resource Flowchart: Turns off the execution of the flowchart for the selected resource. This feature is typically used for troubleshooting.

Save to Library: Opens a dialog box that allows you to choose a target library for the selected resource and name the resource for use in the resource library.



16

Searching your Project ModelDepending on your filter selection, Search allows you to find and replace strings as they are used in a variety of contexts, such as resource names, variable names, and other uses throughout the project. To search:

1. Right-click an item in the Project Model and select Search. The Project Search/Replace Tool dialog box is displayed.

The Project Search/Replace Tool dialog box

2. Select the Search Filters. These are the objects that will be searched.

3. Enter a string in the Search Text box.



17


4. Click Search. Any items that are found are shown in the Search Results box.

Using the Search/Replace feature

Importing and exporting your project variablesRSTestStand Enterprise uses a configuration tool that allows you to import text data from a delimited file and export the project variables to a commaseparated variable (csv) file.

The source of imported data can be programs such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word that can export text-based data. This allows you to easily develop your Project Model from sources such as a bill of materials spreadsheet or a CAD project tree. For example, by exporting and re-importing, you can add OPC addresses while the table of variables is in Microsoft Excel.

You can also import and export Project Models using XML. See Importing and exporting projects on page 121.

Select these boxes to choose the instances that should be replaced. Click Replace With to enter the replacement text

Double-click an item to open the Properties dialog box for that item

Click Select All if you want to replace all instances



18

Importing project variables

1. Select File > Import. The Import Formatted Text File dialog box is displayed.

2. Select the file to be imported.

3. Click Open.

An exported RSTestStand Enterprise project uses a record identifier in its first column. Three types of records are used: () for the Header record, (V) for the variable record, and (F) for a folder record. If you want the importer to use these identifiers, make sure the Use 1st Column to Autodetect Component option is selected.

Import dialog box

4. Right-click the headers and select the appropriate field definitions. See the table below for header descriptions. Fields that are set to Ignore will not be imported.

5. Parent and Name must be selected in order to merge with existing variables. They identify the specific target resource and its path in the project tree.

Save a backup of your existing Project Model before importing. Imports cannot be undone.

Right-click to set header definitions

Click an item in the tree

and see its values here



19


6. Review which records (rows) you want to import. To skip an individual record, right-click the record and select Ignore. (Note that Ignore is only available if the Use 1st Column to Autodetect Component option is cleared.)

7. You can review the effect of your choices in the Pending Workspace box. Click an item in the tree to display the details for that item in the table below the tree.

8. Click OK to complete the import.

Exporting dataExporting data generates a comma separated variable (csv) file. To export a file:1. Select File > Export.2. Select a file or enter the name of the file.3. Click Save.4. When the export is complete, the message Export Successful is displayed.

Click OK to close the dialog box.The first row of the export is a header that contains descriptions of the fields. See the table that follows for field descriptions.

For more detail on the merge process, see the online help.



20

Field descriptions for csv fileField Description

Record type V: The record is keyed as a variable.F: The record is a folder.: A header row.

Template type The name of the library element that will create the instance in the Project Model. Import only.

Parent The name of the resource to which the variable belongs (if the record is a variable.) The name of the resource can be the full path, which identifies the path of the resource in the project tree, or a truncated name. In general, keep the full path.For import, the full path must be selected to merge with existing variables.

Name The name of the variable as it appears in the resource property dialog box. Selected by default.For import, this must be selected to merge with existing variables.

Variable type Boolean, real, integer, double integer, or string.Is there connection to this variable?

True indicates there are connections; False indicates there are not.

Is this variable Public?

True is yes.

Initial value 1 for a Boolean-typed variable means that the initial state is true.Mode Source, duplex, or sink.Tag The OPC tag address.Force present True means that a force is applied to this variable.Force value If a force is applied, this is the value that the variable will take when it

goes into run mode.


21

4

4 Resources

ResourcesIn the RSTestStand Enterprise Project Model, the machinery and processes are represented through resources. Resources define the characteristics of the equipment or process and consist of:

A logic view, which contains a group of flowcharts that control the way a resource behaves. See Flowchart Editor on page 81 for more information.

Variables that interact with the flowchart, other resources, and the PLC

Capabilities, which define the actions that resources can do

After creating a Project Model, you need to populate the models folders with resources. You can add resources to the model by:

Creating new user-defined resources

Dragging resources from the Standard Resource libraries or user libraries

After they have been added to the Project Model, you can set attributes, variables, and capabilities for the resources.

You also need to connect the resource to another resource or to a PLC, which is referred to as wiring resources.

Resources can be inserted into folders or grouped together to form parent-child orderings. A parent-child ordering is an aggregation of resources, or a resource assembly. They are created by dragging a resource from the Resource Library onto another resource, which creates the parent-child relationship.

Resources and groups of resources can be saved as library elements and reused in other places in your current Project Model or in other projects. See Creating and using libraries on page 91.



22

Adding user-defined resources to the Project ModelUser-defined resources are resources that have no pre-defined attributes, such as variables, capabilities, or flowchart logic.

To create a new user-defined resource:

1. In the Project Model, right-click the folder or resource where you want the resource to be stored.

2. Select New Resource.

3. The new resource is completely empty. Use the resources property dialog box to add variables and capabilities and flowchart logic where necessary.

Setting attributes, variables, and capabilities for resourcesAfter you have added a resource to the Project model, you can change its attributes, variables, and behavior to customize its behavior or better model a component.

Setting resource attributesAttributes are general information about the resource. You can also change communications options through this tab.

To change a resource:

1. Right-click the resource in the Project Model

The simplest way to add resources to the Project Model is by dragging resource definitions from Standard Resource libraries into your Project Model. See Populating your Project Model on page 12 for detail on this method.

Resources can inherit behavior from a library element. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag a library element onto a resource. The target resource keeps its name, but all other properties, such as variables, flowchart, and capabilities, are replaced by the source library element.


4 Resources

23

4 Resources

2. Select Properties. The Resource Properties dialog box is displayed.

Resource Properties dialog box with the Attributes tab displayed

3. Type a Resource Name. This is the name that will be in the Project Model.

4. Select a Category. This is the icon that is displayed for the resource in the Project model. Resource categories are also used to populate the Role field in the EDX schema. Icons are shown here.

5. Type a Description. This is a 250-character descriptor that allows you to document your resource.

Generic Mechanical Continuous Process

Structural Control



24

6. If you want to make communications settings that are specific to this resource, click Communications. The Communications dialog box is displayed.

Communications dialog box

Communications dialog box options are described in the following table:

Option Description

Server Name The value you set in the View > Project Properties dialog box.

Is Using Server Select this if you select any OPC tag addresses in the Variable tab Tag box. To disable connections for this resource only, clear this.

Desired Update Rate (ms)

The value that you set in the View > Project Propertiesdialog box (if no value was set, the default is 50 msec). If you want to tune system performance by allowing some tag groups to scan faster than others for reads, change the update time. The allowed range is 1 to 10,000 msec, but values less than what the communications link can support might not be practical and will be increased as necessary by the OPC server.


4 Resources

25

4 Resources

Setting resource variablesVariables store values during program execution and are used in a resource flowchart.

The Variables tab is also used to wire resources. There are two types of variable connections that you can make to wire your model in RSTestStand Enterprise. You can connect resource variables to other resource variables in your model (internal variable connections) or connect resource variables to tags through OLE for Process Controls (OPC). OPC connections are made using tags. Tags can represent anything that can be connected through OPC, including PLC data tables.

Send duplex variables initial values to server during startup

By default, the initial value of duplex variables is not written to the PLC at startup. In general, you should use source variables to control the initial value in the PLC logic. However, if you want to have the initial value of the duplex variable written during the pre-scan of the software, select this option.

If a source variable is connected to a duplex variable that has an OPC tag address, the second scan causes the source variable value to be written to the PLC. Since the software will always write a source value to a connected duplex variable if it is different than the connected variable, the connected source value will always be enforced in the PLC.

Update server information in child resources too

This allows you to selectively disable portions of the Project Model from a particular resource down.

Update Server Information in all other resources (project wide)

Allows you to update the communication properties of all resources in the Project Model. Use this to turn the OPC connections on or off in an entire project.

For OPC connections, you must have release 2.4 or greater of RSLinx for integration into your software. Open RSLinx and make sure the appropriate drivers are configured. For RSEmulate 5, the PLC5 (DH+) Emulator Driver must be selected. Create a topic for your project and link it to your controller. For detail on how to configure RSLinx, see the RSLinx documentation.

Option Description



26

To set variables for your resources:

1. Click the Variables tab. The dialog box shown here is displayed.

Variables tab of the Resource Properties dialog box

2. The Name column contains name of the variable. Names must start with a letter and can be alphanumeric. They must be less than 80 characters long with no spaces. Underscores are allowed.

3. Select a Type from the list in the Type column. This defines how the variable is represented when it is connected to a PLC using OPC. For variables that will be connected to a PLC, make sure they match the type of the variable to which they are connected.


4 Resources

27

4 Resources

The types are:

bool: 0 or 1, true or false

dint: 32-bit integer

int: 16-bit integer

double: 8-byte floating point real number

real: 4-byte floating point real number

string: text

arrays: bool, int, double int, real, double (real), and string. See Initial Value for dimensioning the arrays.

4. If you are connecting this variable to another internal variable (including Operator Console variables):

a. Double-click the Connections column. The Browse Resources dialog box is displayed.

b. Select the variables you want to connect to. When variables are connected, it is as if there is a wire transferring the contents of one variable to the other variables.

5. In the Mode column, select how the variable value should be resolved if there are competing points of connection. For example, if a variable is connected to another variable, whether internally or through OPC, and both connections can modify the variable, you can select Source to tell the system that this variable is write-only.

Multiple variables can be connected using the browser tree (fan out). If a variable is connected to the one you are looking at, the field is filled in with the name of the variable. If multiple variables are connected, the outline of the field is changed from black to red dashes. Variables do not have to be the same type to be able to transfer values, but we recommend that you keep the types the same for troubleshooting purposes.



28

The choices are:

Source: The variable and its tag are write only. It is controlled only by the initial value and the flowchart. When a source mode variable is connected to a duplex variable, and the value of the duplex variable is different than the source, the source mode variable will always write its value to the duplex variable. Use Source when the tag is a PLC input and you do not want any other variable to influence it.

Duplex: The variable and its tag are read and write. The OPC link updates the value in the variable by reading from the tag address, as well as writing to the tag address. If a duplex variable is connected to other variables, and the values of these variables are changing, and you are also controlling the value locally through a flowchart, the value of the duplex variable is determined by the last update from whatever location. For this reason, be careful of how you connect duplex variables.

Sink: The variable and its tag are read only. If the variable is connected through OPC to a PLC, Sink means that the initial value of the variable will not be written to the PLC at startup.

6. Select Public to have the variable be displayed in the Variable browser list.

7. In the Initial Value column, select the value that will be loaded into the variable when the system goes into Run mode. See Initial Value on page 30 for more detail.

There are some unique considerations regarding source and duplex variables when the variables are using the OPC link. For additional information, see the online help topic Application Considerations using OPC.


4 Resources

29

4 Resources

8. To connect variables to OPC tags, click the button to the right of the Tag column.

Opening the Browse Tags dialog box

Browse Tags dialog box

Click here to display the Browse Tags dialog box

The OPC tag is the address the system uses to communicate to a PLC. If you cannot find your target address in this list, be sure that the Topic is configured in RSLinx.

You can also type in tag addresses. The format is:[Topic_name]File:Word.bit



30

9. The first time you select a value for the Tag field, the message Using OPC tag is off turn it on? is displayed. Generally, you should select Yes. If it is off, the OPC connection client does not create a group. If you want to selectively disable communications for troubleshooting purposes, select No.

10. Select the tags and click OK.

11. Click OK.

INITIAL VALUEInitial values can be used to determine the state of the model at startup. For example, you may want to set the Returned limit switch to True on an axis so that it appears that the mechanism is retracted when power is turned on.

If your variable has an OPC tag address, this value will be written to the PLC on the first scan unless Sink is selected.

By default, the initial value of duplex variables is not written to the PLC at startup. In general, you should use source variables to control the initial value in the PLC logic. However, under certain circumstances, you may want to have the initial value of the duplex variable written during the pre-scan of the software. You can change the default by going to the Resource Property Communication dialog and selecting Send Duplex variables initial value to server during startup.

If you have selected an array data type in the Type column:

1. Right-click the Initial Value field and select Configure Array.

2. Click Resize to set the size of the array. The array defaults to eight elements.

You cannot directly connect array elements to other variables in the system. If you wish to make array elements available to other resources, you must equate an array element in the flowchart to another defined variable in the variable table.

To turn this flag on or off later, select the Attributes tab, click the Communications button, and select or clear the Is Using Server option.

The Add Variables using OPC Browser button lets you import the name of a variable and its OPC tag address from the OPC tag browser. You can multi-select as many tags as you want to import. This allows you to both quickly populate the variable name field and easily switch over control of the simulation from an internal flowchart to a live controller. The RSTestStand Enterprise controller is now a proxy to the live controller.


4 Resources

31

4 Resources

CONNECTING AN ARRAY VARIABLE TO AN OPC ARRAYYou can connect an array variable to an OPC array using the following syntax:

[topic]base_address

You can browse for the base address and then type the comma, L, and a number to indicate the number of elements to be transferred. A valid OPC address would be: [mytopic]N7:0,L5, which would read five words of data starting at N7:0.

RSTestStand Enterprise does not require the variable array to match the length of the OPC tag array.

Setting resource capabilitiesCapabilities represent a time-based function that a resource can perform. Capabilities interact with the resource program through the system functions for the Flowchart Editor, and are invoked from the flowchart of the resource.

Resources from the Standard Library use a variable to point to the resource capability, so you do not have to configure a capability if you are using Standard Library resources.

For an example of using Variables in the Duration field of a capability, see the capability Time_On in the Duty Cycle Timer under FC Program Examples of the Standard Resource Library.

Capabilities are integral to how the Part Flow model works. Setpoints of actions that are bound to capabilities can also be modified.

You can monitor the values of capabilities during runtime using the Output Message Window.

If you remove a capability, make sure all references to it in the resources flowchart are also removed. If the flowchart tries to execute a non-defined capability while running, it will display an error message. You can use the Find feature to do this. See Searching your Project Model on page 16 for more information.



32

To set up capabilities for a resource:

1. Select the Capabilities tab. This dialog box is displayed.

Resource Properties dialog box with Capabilities tab displayed

2. Click Add to add a new capability.

3. Enter a name for the capability. This is the name that is used in the flowchart.

4. Set the duration for the capability in seconds. Duration can be a constant, a variable that stores a number, or a VBS expression.

The resultant value in this field is passed to the functions that use Capabilities as a parameter to indicate the length of time to traverse a hundred units of distance. We recommend that durations be more than 0.25 seconds (250 msec) for performance considerations.


4 Resources

33

4 Resources

You can enter a value, or right-click the Duration field and select the Function Picker, which replaces the constant in the field with a VBS expression. The options available through Function Picker are:

More information on the statistical functions above can be found in the Visual Basic reference guide. You can also type in your own expression in the field.

5. Set when the function is evaluated. Operation of the selected function depends on when the function is evaluated. Set Evaluation by selecting an option from the Evaluate list:

Every scan: The duration changes while the move is happening. Select this if your duration field references a variable in the resources variable list and you want the duration to change depending on flowchart logic.

At zero: Distribution is random and every cycle should be different, according to the selected function. The expression is evaluated when the capability returns to zero.

At Startup: The capabilitys duration is seeded with a different number when you begin simulating, and does not change thereafter.

Function Description

EXPO VBS Exponential Distribution function. The function only needs a mean value. Each time it is evaluated, it returns a new random value based on the mean.

NORM Normal. Requires a mean and a standard distribution. Each time it is evaluated, it returns a value that fits the bell curve pattern.

TRIA Triangular. Requires minimum and maximum values and a mode value. Mode is the value that is most likely to occur in the pattern. Use this distribution to emulate most mechanical processes.

UNIF Uniform. Requires minimum and maximum values. Each occurrence of the event will have an equal probability of occurring in this range. Use this distribution to simulate processes that have statistical independence from previous events.

VAR Variable. Lets you reference a variable in the resources variable list so you can dynamically change the duration value through the flowchart or connection to other variables.

If you enter a fixed number in the duration field, leave the selection at the default.



34


35

5

5 Operator Consoles

Operator ConsolesRSTestStand Enterprise lets you create operator consoles as your primary runtime interface to the application. An operator console is a model of a physical panel equipped with buttons, selector switches, and pilot lights that is used by an operator to initiate motion, change operational modes, or receive notification of important conditions.

In RSTestStand Enterprise, Operator Consoles are treated as a special type of resource. Like other resources, they can have properties such as variables and capabilities that interact with a flowchart and can be saved to user-defined libraries. They are associated with an Operator Console View, which invokes the Operator Console Editor.

The Operator Console Editor let you configure the look and feel of the Operator Console and the position of the devices used on the Operator Console. RSTestStand Enterprise provides a variety of different devices with which you can create your console.

The devices on the Operator Console are child resources that are obtained from the Op Console Devices library. They mimic typical user interface devices, such as pushbuttons, toggle switches, and indicator lamps. Note that Operator Console devices can only be used on Operator Consoles.

Operator Console devices can be configured like any other resources, and you can change their behavior by writing a flowchart program that uses the resource variables and conditions them through your program. Devices are usually coupled to the application through PLC I/O, although they may have indirect behavior, such as an emergency stop, that only connect to internal parts of the model. For example, if you want a flashing hardware light, you can add a variable for an input, create a capability with a one-second duration, and write a flowchart that uses the capability in an Invoke function to periodically turn the Coil variable on and off.

You can merge an existing Op Console with another Op Console. The target Op Console will contain all of the children of the source. See Merging Operator Consoles on page 39.

Operator Console child resources cannot have children.



36

Adding an Operator ConsoleTo create an Operator Console:

1. In the Project Model window, select the folder or resource under which the console will be placed.

2. Right-click.

3. Select New Operator Console. An operator console resource is created under the folder or resource.

New Operator Console in the Project Model

4. Rename the resource (the default is Op Console).

5. Double-click the operator console to open the Operator Console Editor.

New Operator Console


5 Operator Consoles

37

5 Operator Consoles

6. Add devices to the operator console by dragging them from the Op Console Devices folder of the Resource Library onto the Operator Console view.

Adding devices to the Operator Console Editor

7. To automatically arrange the console devices, select Layout > Auto Arrange. After using Auto Arrange, you might need to resize the view to see all of the devices.

8. Add wallpaper to the Operator Console by dragging a bitmap from the Textures folder of the Graphics Library to the Operator Console. To remove the wallpaper, open the Resource property dialog box of the Operator Console and click Remove Wallpaper.

To add new textures to your Project Model, right-click the Textures folder in the Graphics Library and select Import Textures. You can import a variety of file formats, including .bmp and .jpg. The new texture will appear under the Texture folder. The file that was selected is now part of the project file (.rsm) and is automatically included in any save or restore operation. You can move or delete the original file.

Drag devices from the Op Console Devices Library to the Op Console Editor



38

Operator Console with devices

Configuring Operator Consoles device resource propertiesTo display the resource properties for a device, double-click the device. You can add and remove variables through the property dialog box.Note that you cannot access the special purpose functionality of Operator Console devices if you modify or delete variables that are created when the resource is created. For example, all push buttons have normally open contacts and normally closed contacts modeled as variables. Deleting the normally open contact variable means that you can no longer use that function in your project.Devices and Op Consoles can be renamed or removed from the project through the Resource dialog box or from the Project Model window.See Resources on page 21 for more information on working with resource properties.


5 Operator Consoles

39

5 Operator Consoles

Merging Operator ConsolesYou can merge an existing Op Console with another Op Console. The target Op Console will contain all of the children of the source. Existing attributes of the target remain unchanged, including the wallpaper. The source Op Console is deleted when the consoles are merged.

1. Select an Op Console with its children.

2. Identify the target Op Console.

3. Drag the selected Op Console onto the target. The cursor changes to an M when it is on top of a possible Op Console target.

4. Release the selection. A confirmation dialog box is displayed.

5. Select Yes.

Operator Console devicesThe Operator Console lets you mimic the behavior of operator console devices that might be assembled onto a panel next to a machine. The operator console devices provided in the Op Console Devices library are described below.

Emergency stopThe Emergency Stop device behaves like a maintained push button, except that the contacts are wired such that they open when the button is pushed. The button illuminates whenever it is pushed. Clicking the button restores normal operation.

Indicator lampCreated with a single variable called Coil. When Coil is true, the lamp lights. Color can be selected on the Style tab of the resource property dialog box.

LED displayThe corresponding output operator console device for integer and real values. You select the number of digits and the number of decimal places from the Style tab. (The Style tab choices change based on whether the Value variable is typed as a real or as an integer.) The decimal point counts as a digit when you specify the number of digits. The device displays whatever value is connected to its Value variable.



40

Message displayThe message display has one variable, a string called Msg, that works as follows:

By default, it has 20 columns (characters across) and 2 lines (rows). This can be modified by going to the Style tab of the Resource Property dialog box.The value of Msg is displayed when simulating. If the length of a line is greater than the columns, line breaks are added. You can insert the characters \n into the display string to force new lines.In Edit mode, each line is filled with the text X: Line, where X is the line number. This is to aid the designer when sizing the device.

MeterThe output display device for reals. The bar moves based on default values between the low and high range. Change the meter orientation and the scale range on the Style tab. You can also change the style to a needle or a bar.

Push buttonMimics either a momentary or maintained pushbutton. To use a maintained pushbutton:1. Right-click the pushbutton.2. Choose Properties from the menu.3. Select the Style tab.4. Select Maintain State.You can also select the color of the lens from the Style tab.

The operator console device now works at runtime. Click the button once to hold it down, and click again to release it.

Open the Variables tab to set the variables for the push button. Variables include:

Normally open and normally closed Boolean variables that are automatically created.A coil variable that is automatically created to mimic an illuminated pushbutton. To mimic illumination, wire the variable so its state is controlled through the simulation.

Click Add to create additional contacts. Write a corresponding flowchart to control them.Since you will typically be using pushbuttons as inputs to the PLC, we recommend that you select Is Source (producer) when you create your connection to the PLC through the OPC Browse Tags dialog box.You can also emulate buttons that require an operator to press two buttons at a time to activate machinery. At runtime, press Ctrl while pushing a momentary button to make it temporarily behave as if it is a maintained button. Click the button again to release it and return it to momentary action.


5 Operator Consoles

41

5 Operator Consoles

Selector switchA multi-state operator console device that allows you to mimic behavior such as mode control on the operator station. You can configure the number of states the switch has through the Style tab. The default number of switch positions is four.

Nine variables are created for the switch based on the four positions: one integer variable that returns a 0-3 corresponding to the position, and four pairs of contacts, one pair per position. When you change the number of switch positions on the Style tab, the software modifies the number of variables. For example, a 3-position setting changes the number of variables to seven: one integer with a 0-2 range, and three pairs of Boolean contact variables.

Positions can be labeled by populating the description field on the Attributes tab and selecting Use Description as Label.

SliderThe input device for reals. You can change the operating range and orientation of the slider on the Style tab. The default range is 0 to 100.

Strip chartMimics a panel-mounted strip chart recorder. It can display up to four pens moving across the viewing area at a user-defined speed. It is typically used for comparing relative signal values over time, either analog or digital. Unlike a strip chart recorder, there is no logging capability, so once the signal moves off the viewing area, you can no longer retrieve it. If you need logging, we recommend you use RSView32s trend feature.

The strip chart has four variables, one for each pen. By connecting a variable, either to other variables in the system or directly to a PLC, you can control the action of the respective pen on the screen.

On the Style tab, you can set:

Low and High Range: The full travel of the pens vertically corresponds to these low and high values. Most ranges in the software use a 0 to 100 scale, which is the default.Scroll Rate: Determines how quickly the graph moves across the screen.Update Rate: Determines how often a new point is graphed on the display. The more frequently a point is graphed, the more computer resources RSTestStand Enterprise is using.Boolean: The display is reconfigured so that the pens are mapped on separate spaces on the display. This lets you see the relationship of one Boolean value to another, similar to a logic scope. Since Boolean values usually change rapidly, we recommend a more frequent Update Rate. The default Update Rate is changed to 0.1 sec when Boolean is selected.



42

Text boxAllows you to comment operations on your operator console and create custom labels for devices. The field auto-sizes to amount of text in the box, up to a maximum of

getting results guide - rockwell...

Documents